The large wooden horse at the entrance to the archaeological site is the first thing every visitor sees and the most photographed object on the mound. It is a 1975 reconstruction by the architect Izzet Senemoglu, about eight metres tall, built to evoke the famous wooden horse of the Iliad and (more directly) the Aeneid. A wooden ladder climbs to a small viewing platform inside the horse's belly, looking out through windows cut into the flanks.
It is touristy in the obvious sense — every group photograph at Troy is taken here — and many visitors find the structure jarring next to the genuine ruins. But children love it, and the silhouette has become so identified with the site that it is impossible to imagine the entrance without it. The horse used in the 2004 Brad Pitt film Troy (now displayed on the seafront in Çanakkale) is a much bigger and more elaborate version, but it is also a film prop. The 1975 horse here is the one that has stood for fifty years and seen tens of millions of visitors climb its ladder.